Weapons

Congressman Calls for Confiscation of "Assault Weapons"

In an editorial in USA Today, Rep. Eric Swalwell proposed a mandatory buyback of all “military-style semiautomatic assault weapons” without any “grandfather clause” for existing weapons or any deference to the Second Amendment — the sort of forced-confiscation plan that gun-rights advocates have warned about and gun-controllers have hotly denied they seek.

The California Democrat called reinstating the federal assault-weapons ban from the 1990s a good beginning, “but it would not affect weapons already possessed.”

“Instead, we should ban possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, we should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons,” Swalwell said.

Swallwell also downplayed the Second Amendment implications of mandatory gun confiscation, in part by saying that even late Justice Antonin Scalia in the Heller decision wrote that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited.

But he also implied that it wouldn’t matter anyway because gun control saves lives, which matters more than individual rights, the Washington Times reports.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says tactical rifles should not be distributed widely across patrol ranks, citing security and oversight concerns. But James McDermott, president of the Nassau PBA, argues that street cops—armed with department-issued .40-caliber handguns—are at a distinct disadvantage against a gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle.

Federal has announced two new Premium 224 Valkyrie loads that the company says deliver precision accuracy at long ranges. Shipments of these Federal Premium 224 Valkyrie cartridges have been delivered to dealers.

O.F. Mossberg & Sons Inc., a leading American firearms manufacturer, has announced the release of a new MC1sc (subcompact) handgun; the Mossberg MC1sc Stainless Two-Tone in 9mm; available in standard-frame and cross-bolt safety frame versions.